As a result of recent hotel and high-rise apartment building fires, the importance of improving fire and smoke retardancy characteristics of plastic and rubber materials used in homes, apartment buildings, hotels, office buildings, passenger cars, and other places in which people congregate has become ever more apparent. Recent research has revealed a number of additives which can be added to compositions to improve the fire and/or smoke retardant characteristics of the compositions. Among the recognized additives that benefit the fire and/or smoke retardancy of plastic and rubber compositions are a number of metal oxides (such as zinc oxide, bismuth trioxide, molybdenum trioxide, litharge, vanadium pentoxide, tungstic oxide, cadmium oxide and antimony trioxide), certain phosphorous compounds (such as tricresyl phosphate, triphenyl phosphate, tributyl phosphate, tris (2-ethylhexyl) phosphate and tris(2,3-dichloropropyl) phosphate), certain halogen-containing compounds (such as chlorinated waxes, antimony trihalides and antimony oxyhalides), and amine molybdates (such as melamine molybdate, ammelimium beta-octamolybdate, dicyclohexylammonium alpha-octamolybdate, didodecylammonium beta-ctamolybdate and tripentylammonium decamolybdate).
Even though a variety of smoke and fire retardant additives for plastic and rubber compositions are available, new highly effective smoke and/or fire retardant additives still are desired.